Using FTP to transfer your files

Why use FTP?

Once you've got yourself web space, you need to upload your
files to the site. Most web space providers have a File
Manager or a similar upload facility that allows you to manage
your site. You can transfer files and create folders, etc.,
through this. The disadvantages of this is that you can
only upload a few (maybe about 10 - 20, usually 5) files at a
time. If you need to uplaod a large number of files, this
is very time consuming, and also you'll have to wait for a
directory listing to be generated everytime.

I have found that the easiest way to manage your site is
through FTP (File Transfer Protocol). FTP is a protocol (or
a standard of communication) that allow two computers to transfer
files. Using FTP, you can have direct access to the files
and folders of your site, and you can manage them just like you
would on your own hard disk.

Most web space providers like Tripod, Geocities, XOOM,
Fortunecity, AcmeCity, all allow you to transfer files through
FTP. Tripod and Yahoo! Geocities have excellent FTP
support.

You can also use FTP to connect to and download files from the
large number of FTP sites on the internet.

Do I need additional software to use FTP?

Your web browser already has the ability to connect to FTP
sites. But to use FTP effectively, you need a software that
is written especially for this purpose. These are called
FTP clients and there are a lot of good ones downloadable for
free. There are FTP Programs available for various
operating systems. (I assume you're using Windows, if you
have Linux, you already have gFTP). The program I use is
called FTP Explorer [FTPx Home Page]
(Windows 95/98) and it is free for home and educational
use. Other FTP clients for Windows are CuteFTP, CoffeeCup FreeFTP,
etc.

How to connect to an FTP site

To demonstrate how easy it is to use FTP Programs, I'll use
FTP Explorer as an example, no matter which FTP client you have,
the procedure will be very similar.

First, you have to specify to the program the address of the
FTP server to connect to. FTP Explorer allows you to create
a profile for each site. Enter the following information.

[ The FTP Explorer "Connect" Dialog
Box ]

Profile Name: Give the name you'd like
to refer to your profile by, example: Karthik's Home Page

Host Address: This is the address of
the FTP Server you want to connect to. Your provider should
be able to tell you this address, if they have FTP transfer
facility. I've given the addresses of some of the web space
providers:

Login and Password: Enter
your account details. Uncheck the Anonymous box (Anonymous
refers to anonymous FTP, in which you login using
"anonymous" as username and your email address as
password. This is usually the procedure for logging into
FTP download sites. Since you have a login ID and password
for the site you want to log in to, you must leave the box
unchecked).

Leave the other options like the Port Number,
etc. as they are (Port Number will be 21, and the other options
usually will be blank. You need not specify any of these
settings).

Click the Add button to store
this profile. From now, you can just double-click the name
of the profile you just created to connect to the FTP site.

Double-click on the name of the profile you just
created. You will now be logged on to the FTP server and
you'll be shown your directory contents, as seen below.

[ The FTP Explorer interface. ]

To upload/download files

To upload files all you have to do is:

Start up your FTP program

Connect to the FTP site

Click the Upload button. In FTP
Explorer, the upload button is the button with the big
blue arrow pointing upwards. And yes, the one
pointing downwards is the Download
button.

Select the files to upload, and your FTP Program will
transfer your files.

To download files,

Connect to the FTP server.

Click on the file that you want to download, and then
click the Download button.

You can also create new folders, etc., on the FTP server.

Advantages

You no longer need to start your browser, go to your web
space provider's site, load the file manager page, wait
for the directory listing to be generated before and
after you upload. All you have to do is start your
FTP program, connect, browse your directory and upload.

It's much faster because you don't have to wait for your
directory listing to be generated as a HTML Page
everytime.

Once you get used to it, it's the easiest way to upload a
large number of files.